If you put the card to the smartphone, `self-authentication` will be done and hacking will be blocked.
A new self-authentication technology based on the near field communication (NFC) technology, which can prevent smishing and hacking 100% if you put your credit card to your smartphone, has been developed in Korea for the first time. As it is much more convenient than the complicated ARS and SMS authentication method, it is expected to be widely used in the financial circles.
A FinTech company ThinkPool (CEO Kim Dong-jin) and the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) developed the `card touch authentication` technology, which enables self-authentication by contacting the mobile phone and the credit card.
The card touch authentication technology uses the NFC technology, included in the user`s mobile device, to put the credit card to the back of the mobile phone for self-authentication. Smishing or hacking is caused by the abuse of the personal information leaked online or the security card information stored in PCs and mobile phones. If this technology is used, even when the hacker steals personal information, it is impossible to steal the user`s mobile phone and credit card, thereby perfectly preventing smishing.
Also, as no authentication information is received and entered unlike the SMS authentication, crimes based on stolen authentication information will be prevented too. Users do not have the inconvenience of receiving a phone call for authentication like the ARS method, and it does not expose the call history to the outside either.
In particular, the card touch authentication is attracting public attention since it is the first FinTech technology developed in Korea through the FinTech Support Center of the Financial Supervisory Service.
Kim Dong-jin, CEO of ThinkPool, said, “The FinTech Support Center of the Financial Supervisory Service quickly reviewed the technology and the IT Supervision Office officially said it can be used as an additional authentication means with lightning speed, thereby advancing the commercialization of this technology.”
As a matter of fact, the Financial Supervisory Service replied to ThinkPool that `it is possible to use an additional authentication solution for prevention of electronic financial frauds` just two weeks after the company submitted a technical inquiry to the FinTech Support Center. The authoritative interpretation that the card touch authentication technology is not subject to security review since it does not substitute the digital certificate was delivered to the company as well.
ThinkPool entered into a partnership with KOSCOM and KG Mobilians and embarked on a joint project for commercializing the technology for the financial circles. The company is also planning to complete patent registration in Korea and apply for a patent in the US, Japan and China.
“The highest-level security technology is the OTP now, but the card touch authentication technology based on the near field communication (NFC) technology is a new offline technology that features both security and convenience,” said Kim Dong-jin. “As it prevents SMS authentication from being stolen in the middle, it will be able to replace SMS and ARS authentication.”
Gil Jae-sik | osolgil@etnews.com
